Flower delivery holder

ABSTRACT

A flower delivery holder is provided for accepting a wide variety of vases employed in the floral trade and is conveniently formed of corrugated board which, when folded to the proper configuration, provides a wide mouth that will accept a variety of vases and particularly the bottom portions thereof and grip the same so as to prevent tipping during transportation and delivery of the floral arrangement contained in the vase.

United States Patent [1 1 Greene, III

[ May 6,1975

[ FLOWER DELIVERY HOLDER [76] Inventor: Oliver Watson Greene, III, 101Glen Rock Rd., West Kingston, RI. 02892 [22] Filed: Mar. 13, 1974 21App]. No.: 450,569

[52] US. Cl. 248/152; 47/3411; 248/346 [51] Int. Cl.... A47g 7/00; A47g23/02; A47g 29/00 [58] Field of Search 248/146, 174, 152, 346,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,033,526 3/1936 Kinkenon47/34.1l X 2,583,927 1/1952 Bianchi 206/4519 3,297,289 1/1967 Raus248/152 3,437,193 4/1969 Freeman... 248/152 X 3,488,022 l/l970 Vittori248/152 3,661,350 5/1972 Eckler 248/27.8 X

Primary ExaminerJ. Franklin Foss Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Barlow &Barlow [57] ABSTRACT A flower delivery holder is provided for acceptinga wide variety of vases employed in the floral trade and is convenientlyformed of corrugated board which, when folded to the properconfiguration, provides a wide mouth that will accept a variety of vasesand particularly the bottom portions thereof and grip the same so as toprevent tipping during transportation and delivery of the floralarrangement contained in the vase.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures FLOWER DELIVERY HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION In the past it has been rather common to utilize a flatcardboard base and to place the foot of a vase on this cardboard baseand then secure the same to the cardboard vase by utilizing strings,elastics, and tape. This does not provide a secure holder for the vaseand is of course quite time consuming in order to secure the bottom ofthe vase to the cardboard base. Certain types of arrangements have beensuggested in the prior art for solving the general problem of tippingover of a vase in a truck when the same is filled with some moisture forkeeping the cut flowers in proper condition, as, for example, theplastic carrier disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,661,350 and a cardboarddelivery holder as illustrated in US. Pat. No. 3,297,289. This lattermentioned patent is a corrugated cardboard type of delivery holder andit when in assembled relationship must be stapled together, thusnecessitating another operation and unstapling in order to remove thevase from the delivery holder. This is another operation. Additionally,the US. Pat. No. 3,661,350 which is directed to a cast plastic holderhas certain disadvantages in that it will not readily adapt itself forre-use, the delivery holders being maintained by the floral shop in itstruck and not delivered to the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A floral vase holder is provided which may bemade out of cardboard and suitably cut so that a bottom wall and ahinged-over top wall are provided, the top wall having a V-shaped cutoutsection which forms a mouth to receive and press against the pedestalportion of the vase, the top wall being embraced against the bottom wallby a flap section which has a tongue that is adapted to fit into themouth portion and lie normally underneath the bottom of the vase whenthe same is inserted into the mouth thereof. In this manner thefolded-over flap portion of the bottom wall maintains the top wall inproper position. The present invention provides a holder for flowervases which will maintain a vase or other type of stemware or footedcontainer upright during the delivery thereof and which provides aninexpensive holder which is readily adaptable for holding various sizesof flower containers. It is therefore one of the primary objectsachieved by this invention to provide a holder for flower vasecontainers which will save packing time during the preparation of theflowers for delivery and which can be readily re-used by the florist forthe next delivery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thefloral delivery holder in its assembled relationship with a typical vaseshown in phantom in the proper position with a portion broken away toshow the locking tab;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank for the floral holder made inaccordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingdesignates the blank from which the floral holder is made and whichconveniently may be made out of one or two ply corrugated cardboard orany other similar stiff material that will stand up in the handlingduring delivery and trucking and be sufficiently durable to be re-usableon a number of occasions. The holder 10 is made up basically of a baseportion 11 and an upper wall portion 12. Between the base portion andupper wall portion are a pair of parallel fold lines 13 and 14 which areprovided in the usual fashion with a creaser impressing the corrugatedboard at the location shown by the dotted lines 13 and 14. Medially ofthe outer edge 15 of the top wall 12 is a V-shaped recess denoted at 16and this V-shaped recess conveniently terminates in an arcuate inner endat 17. The recess 16 is cut in such a way that it has a pair of steppedportions 18 and 19 therealong which protrude inwardly from the general Vshape of the recess 16 and these portions form flaps which are impressedrespectively at 20 and 21 by a creaser bar of a forming machine so thatthe same may be bent along the lines 20 and 21 that are denoted by thedotted line showing which indicates the fold line. Parallel to andadjacent the outer edge 15 of the top wall 12 and extending generallyparallel to the extent thereof are a pair of slits 22 and 23, thepurpose of which will presently appear.

The base section 11 has an outer edge 25 and protruding from this outeredge 25 is a tongue 26. Just inwardly from the outer edge 25 is a foldline or crease 27 so that between the outer edge 25 and the fold line orcrease 27 there is formed a flap designated 28. The base section 1 1just adjacent the fold line or crease line 27 is provided with a pair oftabs 30, 31 which are formed by slitting the base section along thelines 32, 33 so that they are free to be bent upwardly along fold lines34, 35.

In FIG. I it is shown how the device may be used to hold a flower vasedesignated 40. From the base 11 the top wall is bent thereover about thefold lines 13 and 14 so as to overlie the bottom wall. The tabs 30 and31 are inserted into the slits 23 and 22 respectively to assist inholding the top and bottom walls together and the flap 28 is then foldedover the outer edge 15 of the top wall and the tongue 26 inserted intothe V-shaped recess 16. The flaps l8 and 19 are also bent upwardlyslightly about their crease lines 20 and 21 respectively. In the exampleas illustrated, the base of the vase 40 is large enough so that it willslip under the tabs 18 and 19 and underneath the top wall 12 and be heldby frictional engagement of the top wall onto the configured pedestal ofthe vase 40. The flaps l8 and 19 also assist in pressing downwardly onthe pedestal of the vase and hold it in position. The base of the vasewhich rests on the tongue 26 also assist in holding the entire holdertogether so that the tabs 30 and 31 being received in the slits 23 and22 is not relied on as the sole securing means when the device is inuse.

After the vase has been secured in the holder as shown in FIG. 1, Waxpaper or the like or other protective paper may be placed over thefloral arrangement in the vase in a fashion that is normally performedby florists and the complete structure can then be delivered to thetruck for the delivery to the customer. In this fashion the cut flowersreceived in the vase may be maintained upright during delivery and thewater that is used for keeping the flowers fresh that is in the vasewill not be spilled during delivery. Further the vase will not tip overand damage the floral arrangement during delivery by the use of theinstant invention.

I claim:

1. A floral holder comprising a blank having a base portion and a topwall portion, at least one fold line 3. A floral holder as in claim 1wherein an integral flap portion is formed adjacent the free end of thebottom wall, said flap being foldable over the free end of the top wall.

4. A floral holder as in claim 1 wherein a pair of tabs are cut from thebottom wall and are bendable out of the planar extent of the bottomwall, said top wall having slits, the tabs engaging in said slits.

1. A floral holder comprising a blank having a base portion and a topwall portion, at least one fold line separating said portions, the topwall portion being foldable over the base portion about the fold line,the top wall portion having a free end with a V recess medially thEreof,the bottom wall having a free end with a tongue, a fold line adjacentthe tongue, said tongue being folded about its adjacent fold line andreceived in the V recess juxtaposed to the bottom wall.
 2. A floralholder as in claim 1 wherein the base portion and the top wall portionare separated by a pair of spaced fold lines.
 3. A floral holder as inclaim 1 wherein an integral flap portion is formed adjacent the free endof the bottom wall, said flap being foldable over the free end of thetop wall.
 4. A floral holder as in claim 1 wherein a pair of tabs arecut from the bottom wall and are bendable out of the planar extent ofthe bottom wall, said top wall having slits, the tabs engaging in saidslits.